The South Carolina debate moderator is CBS News political director John Dickerson. He will be joined by CBS News White House correspondent Major Garrett, and The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel.

The debate will air live on CBS from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. EST tonight. – Live Stream HERE

For those watching at home – feel free to join in with your thoughts on the debate below.

Wanted to point out the hypocrisy of the candidates who do not believe Trump is conservative. When Bush and Trump were having their exchange about Putin, I wondered if anyone would bring up George W. Bush’s statement about looking into Putin’s soul. Jeb’s dislike of Putin is based on Putin changing. It appears that anyone but Trump can change their opinions depending on their audience and venue.
Ten years of court cases have resulted in millions of dollars in fines in several Florida counties. Jeb Bush ordered citrus trees cut down on private property with no compensation to prevent the spread of disease to the orchards. He used eminent domain and the threat of jail time if the homeowner did not comply.

I noticed something fishy with the applause right as Rubio finished his closing remark. There was a weird audio glitch that sounded like there was a tape of canned applause being played. It sounded like the tape was cued up a few seconds too far into the canned applause when they hit “play”– because there was no “build” to the applause, it came out of the speakers like it had already been in progress.

I only caught it on the live broadcast and haven’t gone back to check it to make sure my ears weren’t playing tricks on me– but the fakeness of that moment, in particular, really caught my attention.

The applause for Rubio and Jeb did seem to be canned throughout the debate– but I swear, in that precise moment after Rubio’s closing speech, there was something very suspicious going on with the applause.

Yes, I wasn’t watching most of it, had it running on a TV across the hall, so only listened to it. After a short while I began to recognize this high pitched screaming female voice every time one of the e spoke .. Rubio, Bush, sometimes Cruz, even a few times Trump spoke.

But it was always the same, that one voice topping the others, and I knew if that chick had really been screaming like that every two minutes, she would have lost her voice. Those creeps!

Agreed. Hilarious. Reminds me of my Snow White, blonde, blue eyed sister who learned Spanish and English at the same time. She can chew arse in Spanish better than any Mexican. Hilarious to watch their eyes bug out when she does.

Cruz’s Spanish did not have a natural accent when he confronted Rubio. By natural accent I mean a Cuban Spanish accent (which he would have acquired from his father or any of the various Spanish accents typical of Central American countries). The phrase he hurled at Rubio sounded rehearsed.

Bigger point: It was a deflection from Rubio. Rubio did NOT answer the question about immigration while speaking in Spanish on Univision (saying one thing in Spanish and another in English). I blame the moderator for no follow up.

Something I have noticed is that Trump no longer mentions Limbaugh in his speeches. He talks about “incoming” over the illegal alien comments but no more mentions of Rush. Rush has thrown in his lot with Cruz. If he wants to get back into the Donald’s good graces, he’ll need to grovel.

this excerpt from RENSE.COM ( there is much about this on google..this is history..i stand corrected if anyone disputes)
and why is this never brought up..disgusting!!

“To sum up, the authors categorically state that the Bush family’s fortune arose as a result of its unconditional support for Adolph Hitler’s political project.

The UBC, under Prescott Bush’s direction and with the long-term cooperation of Fritz Thyssen’s German Steel Trust participated in the emergence, preparation and financing of the Nazi war machine through the manufacture of armored vehicles, fighter planes, guns and explosives.

The Bush family’s habit of dominating territories and wealth is nothing new. Their fascist genes were generated during the 1930s. Therefore defining the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the threats to other countries as a continuance of blitzkreig offensives as fascist is no blunder. Neither is convening an anti-fascist front is a rhetorical exercise.”

I knew about this because I read and researched……………but at the time, no one wanted to hear that because the Bushies were ‘sacred’…..sort of in the ‘how dare you say anything bad about this great family’ kind of thing…………………….they have been in the new world order cartel for generations

A retired teacher agrees with BlindSquirrel. In student competitions it was always obvious which student had been “coached”, there is no hesitation in jumping right on the answer, no stuttering or problems with pronounciation, and they talk faster on the “coached answers”. Same things happen with a written evaluation. Yeah, BlindSquirrel, Rubio knew the questions and his answers were all “packaged”. I just have to believe that things will turn out as they should.

I agree too that taco Rubio knew the questions……..On the last Fox no News debate everytime someone was asked something, it looked like he was checking off……I know that Murdock also owns WSJ and someone from there was asking a question tonight……He is way too prepared for each question…………

MSNBC asking Trump about his potential Supreme Court nominees – he says right now he favors Judge Diane Sykes and Judge Bill Pryor – although he cautions that he’d want to have them vetted more carefully first.

Another thing that the talking heads are getting totally wrong is how supposedly dangerous it is for Trump to criticize the Bush family and Lindsey Graham in South Carolina. Jeb has been in single digits in South Carolina for months! Graham was in single digits in his own state until he dropped out of the race. This idea that South Carolina is some kind of neocon or establishment stronghold is absolutely wrong. This was the same state Newt won in 2012, despite a massive establishment onslaught from Romney.

I am SURE that these anti-Bush comments were not OFF THE CUFF remarks on Trump’s part. I am equally SURE that he has tested these out and analyzed their impact or he would have never expressed them this way.

The media is trying to make a big deal over this, but they are clueless. Donald Trump leaves nothing to chance. He’s got this.

Exactly. I’m of the opinion he calculated the risk-reward of taking on the Bushes. And what he did was get Jeb! to show how weak he truly is when confronted – “Donald, you’re not invited to my Charleston party”.

I think Trump is reminding everyone of Bush’s legacy before he arrives in SC and put them on defense. We are retired military and didn’t appreciate that war at all, specially the treatment given to the veterans afterwards, as much as Bush visited them and said he loved them he didn’t set up anything for the returning vets and the problems with the VA existed then. I’m glad this subject was brought up.

Trump does this all the time; comment about John McCain, stop Muslim entry temporarily, illegal immigration. My jaw hits the floor, muscles tense and I wonder how he will survive. Time after time, he swings opinion and pushes us to look deeper into the facts.
It is obvious that Trump “thinks quickly”. Damn, I’m going to have to be on my toes for the next 9 years. No more disengaged voters, eh?

this was an assault on TRUMP..the audience was fixed..a fair thing to do would be no applauding ..
later, his wife standing next to him seemed very concerned..
next rally will prove to everyone that TRUMP still leads!

Trump really stood out as an independent thinker. No need to pay homage to the Bush legacy or echo tired and stale party talking points. This is the way to win the general. Many independents and Reagan democrats want someone who is pragmatic and principled. Conservative as a philosophy without being a blind ideologue and party hack. Change won’t amount to anything unless there is a reinvention of the way the system operates.

Imagine the GOP if Ford had beaten Reagan! The One World Order may have become so entrenched that there would be no way out! Trump will deepen his conservative roots once elected and able to dive deep into the mechanics of governance, For now, he has to ferociously fight the party till the end and reveal who is with him and who against. This battle may be harder than beating Hillary.

What was that bit Rubio started yammering about Reagan? I think he said he grew up under Reagan as though he were an adult. He was 10 freaking years old. I was in Washington those years Marco. I saw the hostages come home, watched Reagan get inaugurated, was around when he was shot, saw Nancy get out of the limo with pajamas and slippers in her hand visiting her husband in the hospital. Where were you Marco? Oh that’s right, you had a babysitter.

I think a few of Rubio’s responses showed what a lightweight he is. Went into the touchy-feely crap. As did Cruz. Frankly, one take away is the Senators really DON’T have the experience and chops to be CinC. Second, the Governors, Kasich and Bush, showed as so very weak, even if they were better on some numbers. Frankly, Jeb, hanging on to an iffy record, during the hottest go-go overheated economy is pathetic. Kasich…well… he’s not so popular back home in Ohio, and he sounded like a ‘let’s make love, not war’ hippie freak.

Bingo Sharon. I was a little surprised by the exchange between Kasich and Bush. Kasich wanted everyone to “hug” and play nice now that the spotlight is on him. Haha. He doesn’t want anyone looking into his record or that ’94 Asaault Weapons Ban co-operation he gave Bill Clinton.

Hahahahashahahaha … Charles on FNC says that Trump blew it, especially vs. Rubio and Cruz. Yea, I know, you really surprised, but I do have to report. Wonder how long it’s been since Charle has been outside the bubble?

Watched it all. Loved it! Donald’s The MAN! Rubio and Cruz beat each other up. Kasich and Bush went at it. All the while Dr. Carson’s looking nice and quiet (future HHS secy?) and The Donald very presidential! He killed all the answers called out the audience, said Jebbie’s mama should be running told the truth about everything including the liars and — best image of all: left the whole watching world seeing Jeb Bush forever after as ‘mooning’ everyone LOL President Trump 2016!!!

I have been a proud right wing extremist,a paleo conservative since..forever..and I have always despised all of the bushes as much as any dems,if not more,so Trump criticism of that criminal family has always been soothing to my ears.

Bush is the reason we got Obama. The country was so sick of him that they voted in an unvetted, no nothing, obscure Senator who really meant it when he said he was going to “fundamentally change America”. I mean the guy attended a church for twenty years that spewed anti American rhetoric and got a pass. As DT says, it’s not McCain’s fault he lost, Abraham Lincoln couldn’t have gotten elected, the country was so mad at Republicans. So this whole GW is a god now and we can’t look at history the way it really happened is ridiculous. Ann Coulter made a good point on Twitter:

Maybe it’s just Game Over time for The Blaze. Beck has been off his rocker for so long, I have a feeling his number of listeners/followers must really be bottoming out. He had to let half of his staff go a year ago, before totally wigging out over Trump.

Wow, Steve on FNC now saying –again– that Trump is not a conservative. Just WOW. How much hatred can they have? Yea, I know, really, us, CruzBots, YEB! Supporters, Marcocito Supporters, etc., but, seriously, the media in front of us all? Really?

They are ruining the word “conservative”. Rubio is a full-throated conservative, even after Gang of Eight? Ryan’s a strong budget-hawk conservative, even after Omnibus? Heck, pick one even Ted Cruz and I can show why he’s not a true conservative. Trump’s come out with #BUILDWALL, Reaganesque tax plans, suspending Muslim entry, bringing back American jobs from overseas … and he’s NOT a conservative? Okay, then the word signifies nothing but situational semantics based bias. It’s worthless. There, look you’ve done to your precious “conservatism”.

I can’t stand to watch Steve Hayes or Brett Baier for that matter either. Hayes despises Trump and will tear him down at every turn. I think the reason DT is winning in all the online polls is voters saw how stacked the debate was against him. The attacks were coming from everywhere. Americans don’t like unfairness and liars and what you saw up there tonight was a concerted effort to hurt DT as much as possible because they are so afraid if he wins SC he’ll run the table.

That nutbar Glenn Beck must have released his minions on it. I like to imagine the wicked witch of the west sending out the flying monkeys from the wizard of oz when he does that to polls and websites.

The problem with these online polls is that you can vote more than once. Thus they can be stacked by whatever groups wishes to do so. I think the polls that will come out in the next day or two will have a better gauge.

I did like seeing Trump ahead in the Blaze Poll. Beck is not above lying about Trump either. A shame Beck has fallen so far.

Trump winning all the polls…..he once again spoke truth to power….the establishment can not understand that the people are on to their game…the movement will grow and grow…the media are a total joke…even with all that stacked against him Trump still kickin ass and taking names

As with so many other debates, the most annoying person continues to be John Kasich for me. In earlier debates, he would interrupt everyone and make an ass of himself. Now, he is pretending to be the one adult in the room. Give me a break.

Before Dickerson got promoted to moderate Face the Nation (and now, the Republican Presidential Debate) he wrote for Slate. This is what he said about republicans.

New ‘Face the Nation’ Host Urged Obama to ‘Pulverize…Destroy…Delegitimize GOP’
By John Dickerson (at Slate)

“The president who came into office speaking in lofty terms about bipartisanship and cooperation can only cement his legacy if he destroys the GOP. If he wants to transform American politics, he must go for the throat. …

Obama’s only remaining option is to pulverize. Whether he succeeds in passing legislation or not, given his ambitions, his goal should be to delegitimize his opponents. Through a series of clarifying fights over controversial issues, he can force Republicans to either side with their coalition’s most extreme elements or cause a rift in the party that will leave it, at least temporarily, in disarray.”

I always find myself leaning in toward the television when Trump is speaking. I know he’s going to say something that makes people feel physically uncomfortable and I absolutely dig it. I don’t know how many times I’m yelled “F**k yeah” before I realized my neighbors could hear me.
TRUMP 2016

About the planned murder thing, what a lot of people don’t seem to understand is how difficult it is to take away funding for them all together . There are sooooo many different government programs funding pp, it’s a variable spiders web of committees, departments, lobby’s; in short it’s rediculous. That why I always roll my eyes when the random establishment GOP person brings a bill forward to defund it. It’s horse poo, they know it, and now you know it. You have to go after these kinds of things in stages. Different things are covered by different programs. You have to dismantle it piece by piece.

Other than Trump, I looked at that whole group and it was a very pitiful sight to see. I asked my partner who he thought the worst one was and he said Bush.
Bush is a very nasty and wicked man who has no soul. They are all bad but Bush clan is a horrible group who really needs to go away.
It is not much to look forward to if Trump does not win

Did anyone else notice that #Trump2016 was the only candidate that mentioned our vets? This is a huge point that the idiotic MSM did not pick up on. Also, these men are running for the highest office in the land and CBS asked Trump is about his cussing? Are you kidding me? The politicians (conservatives and liberals alike) have gotten our country in this bucket of sh*t and this has been for decades and here you have a man – self funding his own campaign and beholding to no one and all they can do is disparage him? He is a national and international successful business man and the elites, SIG’s and pundits would have you believe that running our country is NOT a business what a line of horse hockey!!!! They are all afraid that if Trump becomes POTUS their little gravy trains will end – good! The Trump Train is a coming …We The People are sick and tired of all of their little machinations in WDC. This country needs a real leader at the helm and that man is Donald John Trump!

We were on the road and Sirius did not have the debate. We recorded it and just finished watching it. One of my fellow Trump volunteers texted me that this person felt Trump lost the debate. This Person thought Trump’s answers to candidates demeaned his credibly. I received an in going call from my campaign manager. She felt the same way. You must remember that we watch or attend all Trump speeches, and have watched all of these debates.

Once home, we watched it and discussed it. Trump was Trump and that is the person the USA loves. At times I wanted him to mention Jeb’s eminent domain and the fact that lawsuits are still being filed over his order to cut down all citrus trees on folks yards. I was glad to see the ruling was over tuned. However, FLA is swamped with lawsuits. If Jeb is cut, that will not matter.

My SC prediction is Trump 1st, Rubio 2nd, Carson 3rd. Cruz will be fortunate to make the top 3.
On Feb 20, we shall see.

The South HATES hypocrisy and I do believe Cruz’s actions will result in him leaving the race.

Appears to me that Cruz is toast according to the poll results. It looks like Rubio will emerge as 2nd. The Donald needs to brush up on Rubio’s stands with specifics. He also need to educate all of the fact that Rubio is not a Natural-Born Citizen as the Constitution requires for Pres and VP. In fact, Rubio’s parents came to the USA from Cuba. They were not naturalized until he was 4, Thus there is NO WAY he would meet the constitutional requirements, Rubio himself stated, before he decided to run for Pres, that he is an anchor baby.
Pray America Pray for the well-being of DJT and his family!

Trump sounded like Clinton, Obama, Pelosi, Reid and Sanders. He is NOT conservative. Blaming Bush for 9/11 was vapid and intellectually dishonest. He supports PP. He has ZERO understanding of the conflict in the Middle East. We’re not going to “take the oil”, or “build a wall that the Mexicans are going to pay for”. He would not know how to evaluate a Supreme Court justice if his very life depended on it. He sounded petulant and juvenile last night and embarrased himself and all Conservatives as he claims to be one. With Scalia’s death there is only one responsible choice. Ted Cruz. Maybe Marco Rubio. Control your anger folks. This election will have dire long term implications for the direction of America if Sanders, Clinton or Trump wins.

The height of hypocrisy is staggering. Two ineligible candidates, one the very definition of an anchor baby, talking about ‘original interpretation’ and the great Scalia while they aren’t even eligible under a ‘living breathing’ interpretation.

John, you are the “vapid and intellectually dishonest, petulant and juvenile” one who has “embarrassed himself and all conservatives.”

I’m sure you’ve said the word “President” many times, so that shouldn’t be hard. So go ahead, let’s give it a shot. Say “President”… that’s right, you got it. Okay, now this may be a little tougher, but you can do it. Just add the word “Trump”. Say “President…” Awe c’mon… try it. “President Trump.” See, that’s not so bad is it? “President Trump… PRESIDENT TRUMP!!” There… you got it! Way to go John!

So, I’m watching the debate last night and we see the wide shot of Rubio and Cruz, speaking in Spanish to each other with Trump in the middle. The image was poignant.
Keep in mind, Cruz is only 5’8″ tall and Rubio is only 5’10”, whereas Trump is 6’3″. Trump looked like the daddy and the two freshmen Senators, like spoiled children. Trump, the daddy, looked like he was ready to go to work in an immaculate suit, standing tall. Rubio and Cruz reminded me of 7th graders at a Catholic boys school wearing ill-fitting navy blazers and khaki pants. Then, I considered Donald Jr. and Eric Trump. They would not have acted so horribly nor presented themselves so poorly.

Fox News, isn’t it time to add a little variety to your panels? Every viewer knows the journalist objectiveness Steve Hayes, and Jonah Goldberg brings. It looked like Steve Hayes was going to pick up his toys and go home when Bret called him out!
Please send George Will back to the 1990’s where he belongs (he is so irrelevant).
I like Krauthammer, but he is getting predictable.